I Wanna Be Your Lover

Charted: 11

According to the liner notes in the Prince compilation album The Hits / The B-Sides, this song was inspired by Patrice Rushen, an R&B singer/songwriter ("Forget Me Nots") who did some work programming synthesizers on Prince's debut album For You. Apparently, Prince was smitten, but nothing came of it.

He offered both "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "I Feel For You" to Rushen, but she turned them down.

This was the first single from Prince's second album. It was his breakout hit, going to #1 on the R&B chart and #11 on the Hot 100. The song became a live favorite and a staple of his early setlists.

Prince is rather humble in this song, explaining off the top that he's not a rich man, but he's the guy who won't let her down. Unlike his first single, "Soft and Wet," this one is far more innocent and radio-friendly. This being Prince, there is still some sexual double meaning, as he sings, "I wanna be the only one you come for."

This was the first Prince song to get a video. It's a fairly basic clip showing Prince performing the song with a variety of different instruments.

Comments: 1

Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn January 26, 1980, Prince performed "I Wanna Be Your Lover" on the Dick Clark ABC-TV Saturday-afternoon program, 'American Bandstand'...At the time the song was in it's first of two weeks at #11 on Billboard's Top 100, that would also be it's peak position on the chart, and it spent sixteen weeks on the Top 100... And on November 25th, 1979 it reached #1 {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart...Between 1978 and 2006 he had forty-seven records on the Top 100 chart, twenty made the Top 10 with five reaching #1...One of his forty-seven charted records was at duet, "U Got The Look", with Sheena Easton, it peaked at #2* {for 1 week} in 1987...Prince Rogers Nelson passed away at the young age of 57 on April 21st, 2016...May he R.I.P.* The week "U Got The Look" was at #2, the #1 record for that week was "Lost In Emotion" by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam.